Hyperacusis - A Life Changing Condition

Hyperacusis makes life in a noisy and fast paced world really difficult to those who have it. Traveling, communicating and working can all become a challenge with so much noise around them. For example, traveling to and from work on a train will seem impossible without some sort of ear protection such as ear muffs. Even so these are not enough to block out certain frequencies.

So imagine your life not being able to go watch a movie at a cinema, or not being able to travel by planes and not even being able to attend big social events all because it's â¬Ëtoo' noisy. How would your life be? Many people have to go through everyday life with this because of their condition.

Those with hyperacusis cannot simply walk away from noisy places because the volume of the entire environment is perceived as heightened and elevated from what any normal person would hear. This is where it starts to get painful.

Many people regard recruitment to be similar to hyperacusis, but the truth couldn't be any farther. Recruitment is an abnormal growth of the awareness of volume surrounding a person thus making noisy environments seem uncomfortable. Also with recruitment comes a loss of hearing. Hyperacusis however, is a whole different story. Unlike recruitment where noisy surroundings and environments are perceived as uncomfortable, hyperacusis makes all sounds too loud.

Most patients of hyperacusis suffer from inner ear aches, ear pressure and bad headaches when their surroundings become too noisy to handle. This extra sensitive hearing condition causes many problems in the lives of people who unfortunately end up with it. Some of these are problems in relationships, family, social life and professional lives.

So as a patient of hyperacusis, life is not easy to cope with as things can get really noisy and painful. Also worth mentioning is that currently doctors have a very limited knowledge and understanding of this condition. This alone can make hyperacusis patients feel alone when in their struggle with this rare condition.